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Thoughts and takes on the way life presents.... |
| Thoughts and takes on the way life presents.... |
| I attended the funeral of my friend Richard today. It was so sad. Richard found out he had liver problems two years ago. I guess it was not enough of an incentive to quit drinking and quit smoking. He found out he had liver cancer a month ago. And we gave him his send off today. I don't know if a month is enough time to get your affairs in order, I just know he did not take the time given to do that which should have been done. And his disconnect with family showed when only about 20 people showed up for the service and not one of the speakers was a family member. Let me tell you about Richard. Richard was once a brilliant lawyer in Florida. For whatever reason, he decided that it would be a good idea to experiment with the drug of the day. At that time it was LSD. He managed to survive his last episode, but it left him with permanent tremors in the hands, increased desire for cigarettes and hard liquor, and severe forgetfulness. His career as a lawyer was soundly defeated. Street drugs took his home, his family, and his job. He was a trust fund baby, so he was not completely destitute. But in the end, his inability to control his habits, his alcoholism, his smoking, or his temper left him with just a handful of people who were willing to give him a send off. At the funeral, only his long term friend stepped up to lead the service,because the family would not even hire a rabbi or clergy to conduct the memorial service. Jan, his long term special friend, told everyone that it felt like her heart was torn out. And she could not even step in front of anyone and say that out loud. I could only sit there and shake my head in sadness. From this one service I learned that the people in your life are more important than the money you lust after or the things you covet. Knock it off. It's not worth losing even one of those people in your life. Make amends, speak the words, and live. No one knows when they are scheduled to exit Planet Earth, so make sure that you are right with God. It matters that much. |
| Prompt: What are the most unbelievable things in the books you read, excluding the genres' normally accepted style, form, or content? In other words, what made you doubt the writerâs literary sanity and know-how? If you wish, you might give examples from the books youâve read. The worst book i ever read was called the Purloined Will. A woman was disowned when she married a pauper. When you live poor for any length of time, you get street savvy pretty quick. In this woman's case, as soon as the husband died, she went back to trusting everyone and losing everything through stupidly trusting thieves and con men. In this book it was one theft after another for this woman and the kid. Even after the mother died, the author went after the kid. I was not expecting a happy ending, and the author did not disappoint. But if you tell a sad story, at least have the decency to give the reader some variety in the way you torture the victims. I call it torture because it was a hard and not very good read. The victims were not really tortured, only the reader. |
| If you had the power to wish books out of print, movies out of theatres, or television programming would you ever use it? Why or Why not? What are the risks if that door was opened? I think I would be two faced and would be brought up on charges of censorship because I treat visuals differently than the printed word. I would wish all the movies to go back to the 1940s standards. Back when you could take your kids to the movies and not worry about the content. Let's face it, what you see can't be unseen. The same standard for television. If you can't keep your mouth out of the gutter, off the air for you. That does not pertain to books. Write what you want. The reader can stop or start by their own choice. No harm done. |
| Prompt: Karen Russell says in Granta, âI think that betrayal can often be a profound surprise to the traitor herself.â What do you think about this idea, especially when using betrayal in your fiction? So I am sitting her with allergy symptoms up the wazoo. runny nose, fatigure, cough, some might think it's a bad cold, but then everyone would "catch" it. I would not be sitting over here feeling sorry for myself all by myself. As for the prompt, yeah, being the villain requires an extreme amount of arrogance, almost like there is no conscience. So yeah, it would never occur to a con that even she can be conned. If that makes sense, we are all going to have a happy day. I need sleep in a work a day world. This is terrible. |
| So it is April 2 and I woke up to a light dusting of snow on the cars and a little peeking out of the grass. Every once in a while I see a snowflake drift to the ground. There must be a good reason for a relatively mild, yet seemingly endless winter -- I just don't know what it is. So now the Queen of Procrastination goes off to do the taxes. I might have hair left after this task is complete. Say a prayer or two for me. |
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